ef>" 


mm'm^if^iiiMmi'y. . 


-v:^-^ 


y 






^%^* 


> 


^^^ 








f 




4 




1 




^V 


i UORS 


E Otji/A, 


r 






# •■ 


^%A 



ANUAL 



>SV^. 



Jt 



/i^.M'^ 




\^ 


1/ 


m a.n's 


G^ 




/ 


< 


*«* 


)j 


^ 


. ..G^S^U^ 



I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 

f|lrap...?X....4o^^^^^^^^^ I 

I ^/^.//.M ;.: f 

I UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. || 



<!' /olio, A 

EVERY HOUSE OWNERS' 



TRAINING MANUAL 



HORSEMAN'S GUIDE 



CONTAININO 



FULL AND COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS IN BREEDING, BREAKING, 

TRAINING, AND EDUCATING THE TROTTING HORSE, BOTH 

IN THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC STATES. 



C. GRANVILLE JOHNSTON. 



SAK JFHAKdlSCO, CALl^OMIAt 
PtJBLISHEt) BY C. GRANVILLE JOHNBTON & COMPANY, 

Office No. 3t Stjt±£a StBEai. 
1871. 



5.F34 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1871. 

BY JOHNSTON & COATES, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PKINTED BY 
Jos. "WiNTERBUBN & COMPANY, 

417 Clay Street, 
San Francisco, Cal. 



PREFACE 



I believe that it may be asserted, without fear of con- 
tradiction, that no book has yet been published in the 
English or any other language, which even professes to 
give a complete description of breeding, breaking, train- 
ing and educating the Trotting Horse in a form and style 
suited to the country gentlemen of the nineteenth cen- 
tury. It is true that some of these departments are 
described, but very imperfectly, in separate works; but 
they are generally written in technical language, suited 
rather for the professional student than for the use and 
comprehension of the ordinary reader. For these rea- 
sons the author of this work has thought that a book 
combining the above subjects, and confined strictly to 
those subjects, treated in a practical manner, and in a 
style popularly intelligible, would supply a deficiency 
which has long been complained of by all who are in- 
terested in the proper production and management of the 
Trotting Horse. And in order to bring this work within 
the reach of every one who reads, it is published in 
pamphlet form, divested of all superfluous matter; there- 
fore it will be found to contain only what is absolutely 
necessary for the elucidation of each subject. 



-?^^ife^^^^«^^=^— 




— ^=^5^5^^5g^^J 



TRAINING MANUAL 



AND 



HORSEMAN'S GUIDE 



I now offer tliis book to tlie public, explaining all the 
nice j)ractice there is in managing horse-flesh, and show- 
ing all men how to break, train and educate their own 
horses and colts to trot; also showing stock-raising men 
how to breed their mares, what cross they o'ught to select 
to breed them to, that they may command a good price 
in the horse market The class of horses that command 
a larger price than any other in the United States is the 
trotting horse. 

Men are frequently heard to inquire how it is that they 
have so many fast trotters bred in the East, while so few 
are bred upon the Pacific Coast. In answer to this 
inquiry I will state to the reader that in the East the 
greatest pains are taken in selecting the sire and dam. 
They don't look at a few dollars in the price of breeding 
their mares. It is very true they don't all get Dexters, 
or Lady Thorns, or Goldsmith Maids, but they are breed- 
ing into the same family that produced those flyers. 

Dexter, the king of trotters, sold for thirty-five thou- 
sand dollars. He was sired by Hambletonian, the pro- 
ducer of more high-priced horses than any other trotting 
sire in ^e United States. This fact proves conclusively 
to our horse-raising men — especially in California and on 
the Pacific Coast — the necessity of choosing a stallion 
that has trotting blood. in him. They must, also, look 
back and trace up his pedigree, that they may be sure 



6 



they are not breeding to cold-blooded mongrels. They 
must, also, look to the form of the horse that they intend 
to breed to ; he must be well-necked, deep-chested, and 
short-jointed for endurance ; for speed, he must have a 
nice, clean, bony head, a good, nice, large nostril, wide 
between the eyes, good prominent eyes, wide between 
the joles, clean and nice around the throatlatch, a large 
windpipe, a nice rang;^" neck with plenty of depth, a good, 
nice, slanting shoulder, short back, with good strong 
loins, plenty of length from the point of the hip to the 
crouper, heavy through the stifles, with a good, wide, flat 
hock, with plenty of length from the point of the hip 
to the point of the hock, short between the hock and 
pastern, a good, flat, clean leg ; must stand straight on 
his pasterns, with his hind legs well set under him. The 
breeder must see that he has plenty of depth through his 
chest, with a good, large barrel, which denotes a strong 
constitution, and good staying qualities. Horse-raisers, 
by observing the above rules in making their selections, 
will obviate the taking of desperate chances in breeding 
their mares to cold-blooded stallions. 

Horse-raisers (much too often for the sake of economy) 
allow their mares to be bred to cold-blooded stallions that 
are only flt for the commonest kind of labor. Now see 
how wide of the mark they get, upon the score of econo- 
my. For example : a colt sired by a cold-blooded brute 
will grow up, and at best will never command in the horse 
market more than two hundred dollars, and very much 
oftener will price at a sum vastly less ; while, on the 
other hand, if the same mares were bred to some such 
horse as has been prefaced and so minutely described 
above, their colts, when three years old, with proper 
training and a good nice gait, would be worth one thou- 
sand dollars each, which would justify the breeder in 
bitting, breaking, and training his colts to trot^ A colt 
that can trot in three minutes is to-day worth one thousand 
dollars or more, and always a good demand and ready 
sale for him. Colts that can trot in three minutes and 
one-half are woTthJive hundred dollars, which facts above 
mentioned must conclusively convince the breeder and 



raiser of colts that, upon the score of economy, as well 
as that of pecuniary advantage, breeding, raising, and 
training trotting stock is most decidedly to be preferred 
over that of any other class of horses. 

METHOD OF BITTING, BREAKING AND TEACHING 
THE COLT OR HORSE TO TROT FAST. 

I will now explain to the reader the method of 
bitting, breaking and teaching his colt or horse to trot 
fast. First of all be sure and use your colt very gentle, 
when a year old halter break it, teach it how to lead 
by the halter. After you have taught it to lead kind, 
run along with it a short distance at first, if the colt 
should break from its trot check it and teach it that 
you want it to trot and not to lope. Pursue this course 
for a couple of months, until it knows what you want 
it to do. Play with your colt one hour each day, but 
be sure you don't heat it up, and never get out of tem- 
per, and above all be sure and never whip it. Con- 
tinue to handle your colt as I have just described and it 
will soon find out that it will not get hurt, which course 
will rapidly inspire confidence in itself, and you will 
have no trouble in breaking it to harness. Keep using 
the halter on it occasionally^ until two and a half years 
old, and occasionally get on your horse and lead it 
along by the halter, and let it step along two or three 
hundred yards at a time, never allowing it to break 
from its trot if you can help it; if it should, check it 
as quickly as possible, and it will soon learn that you 
want it to trot and not to gallop. 

The colt, on reaching the age of two and a half 
years— put a bitting harness on it, and be sure you don't 
check its head any higher at first, than its natural style 
of carrying it while in motion. Keep the bitting rig on 
it twenty minutes the first day; the next day, twenty- 
five minutes, and take it up on the check line two holes; 
third day, give it half an hour in the bitting rig, with 
its head two holes higher,: so that it'will bear on the bit. 
Work it along this way one week, leading it along 



by the side of the horse you I'ide, jog along a nice natural 
gait and you will soon get your colt way-wise. Give it 
four or five miles a day the next week, jogging along a 
little faster, taking care to notice your colt that it don't 
break from its trot, and in the event it should, check 
it as quickly as possible, and it will soon learn that 
you want it to trot and not to run. Two weeks in suc- 
cession is all it needs in the bitting rig, by this time its 
mouth becomes soft so that you can rein it. At this 
juncture put a breast-plate harness on it, checking it 
so that it will bear a very little on the check, get it 
accustomed to the harness, pat it on the neck, walk all 
around it, handle it all over, and start off gently with 
it, let it walk a mile or two, then jog along a slow and 
natural gait a couple of miles, which will be sufficient for 
the first day's exercise in harness; always have it led 
beside your saddle horse, increasing your speed gradu- 
ally, when you see it is feeling like trotting, let it step 
along two or three hundred yards at a time, being sure to 
select a good nice piece of road upon which to move. If 
on the track, let it jog two miles, and let it step along on 
the last quarter of the third mile; let it work up to its 
gait gradually, until within three hundred yards of the 
stand, then increase its speed by clucking to it occasion- 
ally, if it should appear rather anxious, as a great many 
horses and colts are when learning to trot fast, call it 
back by using the word whoa ! If it should break from 
its trot while trotting up to its speed, shake the bit in its 
mouth and at the same time use the v/ords " take ca:re." 
Pusue this course and it will very soon learn its lessons, 
and easily become educated in its trotting gait. Two 
weeks with the harness on it, it will get accustomed to 
leather slapping about it, so it will know what that 
means. When preparing the colt for this exei'cise it 
should be shod forward only, not needing any shoes on 
its hind feet for the first month, or until you hitch it 
to a sulky for steady driving. Be sure and notice what 
kind of knee action your colt has, as you must be the 
judge of shoeing your own horse or colt. If the colt 
bends a good knee, it wants a nice smart shoe on; if 
it does not, and throws out its forward legs without 



much knee action, you must have a heavier shoe on for- 
ward than behind in order to make it fold a better 
knee. You must also be a judge of the track you intend 
to work on, as a great many of our tracks, especially in 
California, become very hard in the summer season if not 
harrowed up and kept in order. 

If the reader follows these directions he will be sure to 
pursue the right course to make a trotter of the young 
beginner, and the owner will fin^ that he will be well 
rewarded for his trouble in pursuing this course, as his 
colt will be way-wise when he wants to hitch it up to 
a sulky. The man who handles the colt must bear in 
mind that it is a very wise plan before hitching his col^ 
single that it is very necessary he should get a steady 
well-broke horse and hitch the colt up with him, so that 
the colt will get accustomed to the rattling of the wagon. 
Once or twice is sufficient to hitch the colt up in that 
way. When hitching your colt up with the horse be sure 
and hitch the horse up short, so that the colt won't have 
to pull any. After driving your colt with the horse as 
above described, take it out and hitch it up to your 
sulky, and jog it slow a couple of miles, then return to 
your stable and unhitch it, have some one hold the colt 
while unhitching, as no chances should be taken with the 
colt until it has every confidence in itself. Drive your 
colt every day four or five miles for a couple of weeks, 
and it will soon have its lessons learned. When pre- 
paring your colt to trot fast, or for any engagement, 
whatsoever it may be, if working it on a race track, jog 
your colt three miles the reverse way of the track, then 
turn your colt and jog along one mile the right way of 
the track, the next mile let your colt step along lively 
two or three hundred yards when into straight work, go 
slow around the turns and the distance that I have men- 
tioned, let it step on through both stretches. This 
will be a plenty of track work for it the first week. 
After giving it the first lessons, such as I have men- 
tioned, the next day take your colt on the road to prevent 
its getting tired of the track. 



10 



By following these instructions one month, you will 
find a great improvement in your colt. By using it 
this way, it will not get sore or dull, but will always feel 
cheerful and ready to show you speed whenever you call 
upon it. The next month jog your colt the reverse 
way of the track until you get it emptied out and ready 
to move it; then turn it and go the right way of the 
track, and let it step along about three-quarter speed 
for one mile ; then go to the stable with it, and, if 
sweating, throw a blanket and hood on it; sponge its 
mouth out and give it a couple of swallows of water ; 
when you get it unhitched from your sulky, walk it 
around about two minutes, then" take it in its stall, get 
your harness off and scrape the sweat off of it ; then 
rub the water out of its hair and throw a light blanket 
and hood on it, and walk it five or seven minutes, and 
at the same time sponge its mouth out, and after spong- 
ing it, let it wet its mouth in the bucket ; then take 
it in and rub it about ten minutes with dry cloths ; 
then cover it up with some lighter clothing and take 
it out and walk it ten minutes, and before going to 
the stable with it, sponge its mouth out, as this will be 
a great help to cool it out ; then rub it dry, before 
taking it out again. Then, when you have got your 
colt perfectly dry, so that it will be fit to curry, take 
your curry-comb and curry it, neck and body and as low 
as its knees and hocks ; very often, as currying too hard 
gets a horse sore ; never curry the knees or below the 
hocks ; when you get it curried, take a clean rubbing 
cloth and rub it all over with it ; then take your brush 
and comb and brush it off; then take a clean cloth and 
smooth its coat with it ; then put on its sheet, and 
after going through this process, the horse will be cool 
enough to water off. Then take a bucket and get it full 
of clean water ; set it on the outside of your walking- 
ring and administer it to yonr horse in six parts. Give 
your horse about one-sixth of it at first ; then walk it 
three or four times around the walking-ring and give 
about the sasme, and so on until watered. Then take your 
horse where you throw out your litter and let it stale 
there, as it prevents the horse from wetting its litter, and 



11 



keeps its stall so much purer and cleaner. The horse 
will soon become so accustomed to it that the groom will 
find no trouble in leading it to stale three times a day. 

Where the climate, at all seasons of the year, like that 
in many parts of the State of California, is mild, your 
horse must not be clothed so warm as in parts of the 
country where the seasons change from hot to cold or 
vice versa. A person to train horses must clothe accord- 
ing to the weather ; he must also remember no two horses 
train alike ; therefore, he should study his horse's dispo- 
sition, and if nervous, must treat it kindly ; never 
scold at it or strike it. If it is vicious and cannot be 
coaxed, you must let it know that it must be conquered 
and that man is its master ; but never whip it, until 
you are well satisfied it both needs and deserves it, and 
only then at the moment it does wrong. A few such 
lessons as these, the horse will soon find out what you 
punish it for, and will very soon become as docile, obe- 
dient and affectionate as a well-tutored child. 

Many people training horses have their horses' legs 
washed every day with castile soap and water. This 
practice is a bad one, and I will explain to the reader 
wherein it meets with my disapproval. Washing your 
horses' legs with castile soap and water every day and 
then rubbing them dry, the consequence is the skin be- 
comes finer, and it loses that moisture that nature has 
provided ; it being removed every day by the use of the 
soap and water, which operation very materially aids and 
hastens the production of cracked heels. This result I 
have tested to my satisfaction. I once trained a horse 
that was very speedy. His legs were washed every day, 
and when I would call upon him to extend himself, his 
heels would crack wide open. So I quit washing his 
legs every day, and in lieu thereof, had them well brushed 
and rubbed down with a clean rubbing cloth, and after a 
few days I had no further trouble with cracked heels. 
Pursue this course and, experience will at once lead 
the reader to the same conviction already produced upon 
the mind of the author as the only true and successful 
method of the cure and prevention of cracked heels. 



12 



After training your horse eacli day, the last thing you 
should do before you put it into its stall is to clean 
well with a foot-pick the bottom of its feet, and examine 
well that it has not picked up a nail or other sharp sub- 
stance, or received any bruise, also it is a very good plan, 
after using your horse, to wash and cleanse the bottom 
of its feet with water. Should your horse at any time 
while driving it become suddenly lame stop it and 
examine its feet, which trouble and precaution will save 
owners many dollars, as well as the loss of the usefulness 
of many good horses. 

PREPARATION OF THE HORSE FOR TRAINING. 

"When first taking the animal in hand, preparatory for 
training, if grass fed, be kind to it; if high in flesh, be 
sure and not reduce it too quick. When first you get 
it, prepare the following bran-mash and feed it as di- 
rected below. 

BRAN-MASH. 

Four quarts bran, two quarts oats, one-half teaspoonful 
of saltpetre, one-half tablespoonful of salt. 

Directions for mixing and using the bran-mash are as 
follows: Put your bran in a bucket. Next your oats. 
Stir them up while dry. Next take the saltpetre and salt 
and place them in the centre of the mash, first making a 
little hollow with your hand as a recej^tacle for the water. 
Next, pour boiling hot water on it until you get your 
mash well wet, then stir it up and cover it with a blanket 
and let it remain three hours. By this time your mash 
will be well cooked, and if too warm to feed take it to 
your feed trough, pour your mash into it and stir it until 
cool enough to feed the horse. This preparation (with 
the exception of the saltpetre), given three times a week, 
will cool him out and keep his bowels right. The salt- 
petre should be given in the mash but once a month. 
Jog your horse slow for a couple of weeks, feeding eight 
quarts of oats per day — two quarts in the morning, and a 
few swallows of water before exercise, three quarts at 12 



13 



o'clock and three quarts at 6 o'clock, p. m. — wliicli will be 
sufficient feed for the first two weeks. As its work must 
be slow, give it about six pounds of hay to a feed. 
After this, the trainer must be the better judge, as some 
horses want more work than others. If your horse is 
high tempered, long and slow work will soon steady it, 
and near the close of its work increase its speed; for a 
high tempered or high spirited horse twelve miles per 
day is reasonable work; of the twelve miles, jou should 
jog it along about eight, and increase its speed the last 
four miles. If your horse is a puller, do not pull it, 
but, keeping a firm and steady hold, call it back to you 
by using the word *' whoa." The horse, when used in 
this way, will soon find out what you mean by this treat- 
ment, and its anxiety to pull will cease at the word. 

ON DRIVING— WHAT JUDGMENT TO USE, Etc. 

As all horses do not drive alike, persons undertaking 
the driving of them must first study his horse's disposition, 
and if dull, he must take a nice, stead^)^ hold of his lines, 
check his horse not much higher than when in natural 
motion, touch it occasionally with his whip and cheer 
it up. As many a horse does not want to stay on its 
feet when another comes up to brush with it, the driver 
must keep a nice, steady hold of his lines and call his 
horse back until it gets confidence in itself. If driving 
in a race, the driver must alwaj^s keep his e^^e on his 
horse's head — as all horses are very^ apt to show some 
symptoms of breaking, before getting off their feet, 
either by throwing up their heads, overstriding them- 
selves, or by making a mis-stejD ; and very often it hap- 
pens through the neglect of the driver, by being over- 
anxious and trying to force his horse to more speed than 
it naturally has, or by letting go his pull or hold upon 
it too sudden. When a horse breaks from its trot, let 
it make a few jumps before you undertake to catch 
it, then all of a sudden take it well in hand, pull it 
a little to the right, then suddenly to the left, then square 
it ; to square it, you take a good steady hold of it and 
force it on to the bit, as this will change its movement, 



14 



and it will go to trotting again. With a few such lessons, 
you will soon have a good breaker. 

A man who drives trotters must never be too anxious 
to over-work or over-speed. When his horse is trotting 
as fast as it can, keep it there, and do not try^ to give 
it too much speed at one time. Many men in the trotting 
horse business give their young horses too much track- 
work, so that they become track-sick and leg-wearied. 
Never try to drive your horse when tired. During the 
author's experience in training and driving the trotting 
horse, men have veiy often been noticed to go on the 
track with young horses; working them at first at a mod- 
erate gait, the animals would, while fresh, work well ; 
along the last of their work, they would break and the 
driver getting out of patience, together with natural 
stupidity and laziness, will go off the track and declare 
his horse cannot trot a bit, thus destroying the chances 
of a really valuable and excellent colt, without the 
slightest cause ; while the reason of its breaking was 
caused by the driver allowing it to get completely pumped 
out of wind or breath. 

Young horses cannot stand as much driving as horses 
eight and ten years old, for the simple reason that their 
joints are soft and their muscles not set — so that when 
handled, the person handling them should remember that 
they do not need as much work as an aged horse. 

A man to become a good driver must drive with a 
steady line and always study his horse's disposition; and, 
if his horse should break from its trot, not to be too 
harsh with it, but give it a chance to catch by letting 
it run twenty or thirty yards, then pull it suddenly 
to the right, then suddenly to the left, at the same time 
call it back, by using the word whoa 1 being sure you 
have it well in hand, so that you can square it. By 
a strict observance of these rules, the horse will soon 
learn what you want of it, and will become so expe- 
rienced in its lessons that you will have no further trouble 
in catcing it from a break. Once in a while a break 
rests a horse ; for instance, in trotting two or three miles 



15 



and repeat, where your horse is closely matched, if you 
have a handy breaker, you have a great advantage ; 
therefore, when men are training their horses, that is the 
time for them to teach them to break and catch. 

METHOD TO IMPROVE THE HORSE IN SPEED. 

When you take your horses to the track to train for the 
first time, you must start in easy with them. If taken up 
from grass, you must walk them mornings and evenings, 
for three days, seven miles in the morning and five miles in 
the evening. Be sure and careful to feed as follows, or 
as professional trainers term it: " Mash your horse out," 
with bran -mashes. Three quarts of bran, one quart of 
oats, mix well while dry, then pour boiling hot water on 
your mash until well wet, then cover your mash with a 
blanket and keep covered for three hours, by this time 
your mash becomes well cooked, which feed to your 
horse when cool. Give this mash three times a day for 
the first three days with some hay. This will prepare 
your horse so that you can commence to grain him on 
the fourth day, with two quarts of oats in the morning 
before going out with him to exercise, three quarts at 
twelve o'clock, noon, and again three quarts at six o'clock, 
p. M. That will be sufficient grain for him for the first 
week, as his work must be slow. After the first week, 
increase his speed gradually as you work him. Twelve 
miles will be about the average work for a horse each day 
while ordering him, that is: eight miles every morning to 
harness, to be jogged along five miles, until emptied, then 
increase his speed the other three; and four miles' walk 
in the evening, taking him out for his walk punctually at 
four o'clock, p. M. One month of such work seasons your 
horse so that you can, from thence, increase his speed 
and work. A horse that will eat twelve quarts of oats 
per day is considered a hearty feeder, and will stand fif- 
teen miles exercise per day, that is: ten miles in the 
morning in harness, and five miles for his evening walk. 
Out of the morning's work, jog seven miles, the other 
three miles let your horse go up to about thi^ee -quarter 
speed. Jog your horse twice on the road, so that he don't 



IG 



get track-sick, as a liorse likes to be clianged occasionally 
from the track to tlie road. 

HOW TO COOL THE HORSE OUT WHILE TRAINING 
AFTER HIS WORK IS DONE. 

After its work, keep your liorse out of the wind as 
much as possible; when you bring it to its stable, after 
its work, if very warm and sweating freely, throw a large 
blanket on it immediately, and at once sponge out its 
mouth with some nice clean water, and let the watfer run 
over its nostrils. As soon as you get the foam out of 
its mouth give it two or three swallows of water, then 
you take its harness off and scrape off the sweat. After 
you have all the sweat scraped off, blanket it up snug, 
and clothe a little heavier by putting on an extra blanket 
over your main sweating blanket and hood, pin your 
blankets well up in front and put on two circingles, one 
over your horse's chest and one across its loins, and pin 
your blanket well behind. Then give your horse two or 
three swallows, of water and walk it around for five 
minutes, then bring it in to where you intend to scrape 
it, take off its top blanket and hood, one getting on 
each side, roll your blanket back about half-way on your 
horse and scrapie the sweat off clean, then roll your 
blanket up on its neck and shoulders and scrape its hind 
parts, then roll back your blanket to its place on the 
horse. After you get the sweat scraped off, take some 
clean rubbing cloths and commencing at its head, rub 
it all over, and so continue until you have dried off all 
the external moisture; then put on a lighter blanket, 
called a cooling blanket, and a light hood, and walk 
your horse ten minutes ; then bring it to your stable 
and take some dry cloths and rub it perfectly dry, then 
when ready to curry, curry it light so -that its hide won't 
get sore; as soon as curried, take your curry-comb and 
brush and brush it all over, and then smooth its hair 
down with your rubbing cloth, brush its main and tail 
out, pick out the bottom of its feet and wash them well 
and clean; then go to work and brush its legs down with 
the brush until you get all the dust out of them; then 



17 



take a damp sponge and sponge its legs down until you 
damp them; then take your rubbing cloth and rub each 
leg ten minutes at a time, rub on the Hat of the leg, and 
rub light so as to prevent soreness — as rubbing too hard 
causes soreness of the bone; pursue this course and you 
will always have your horse in good condition. 

HOW TO MANAGE THE HORSE AT HOME, AND 
PREPARE IT FOR MARKET. 

Horse-raising men and others who have no time or op- 
portunity to take or send their horses to a public race- 
track, by observing carefully the following instructions 
will save both the expense and necessity. A great many 
of our farmers and horse-raisers can ill afford either the 
time or expense of paying from fifty to as high as one 
hundred and fifty dollars per month to have their horse 
trained, or to ascertain whether he is worth training or 
not. This will explain to them how they can manage 
their horses at home, and how to make them command a 
price, when they offer them for sale in market, or where- 
soever the purchaser may make an offer for them, so as 
to prevent the seller from being taken in in the price of 
his animals. Horses of the age of three years, with good 
shape and size, and a good, square, open gait, that can 
trot in three minutes and thirty seconds, if a mare or 
gelding, is worth five hundred dollars, as there is a good 
showing to improve the speed of such horses. A horse 
of the same age, that can trot in three minutes, is worth 
one thousand dollars, as the chances are greatly in favor, 
with nice, careful handling, of it soon dropping down to 
two minutes and fifty seconds. A young horse that can 
trot in two minutes and fifty seconds is well worth fifteen 
hundred dollars. If a stallion, and is well bred, of good 
size, and has a good open gait, he is worth two thousand 
five hundred dollars. What is deemed of good size, is 
fifteen and one-half hands high, with plenty of bone and 
muscle, and weighs all the way from nine hundred to one 
thousand pounds. In speaking of muscle, be careful to 
observe that it is a good, nice, long muscle that tapers 
well into the knees and hocks. Trotters do not want to 



IS 



be muscled like quarter- horses. Never in my experience 
have I seen any of the latter kind but would tire out in 
trotting any distance. If you have a young green horse 
that can trot 'in two minutes and forty-five seconds, he is 
worth two thousand dollars and upwards ; if he can trot 
in any time below two minutes and forty seconds, he is 
worth three thousand dollars and upwards — with at all 
times and all seasons a plentiful demand for them at 
those prices. 

The course to pursue to get your horses ready for 
market is as follows: When the colt is three years old, 
put its bitting harness on ; don't check its head any 
higher than its natural way while in motion ; be sure and 
treat it kindly, as by doing so, it will soon find out it 
won't get hurt, and from thence you will have no trouble 
with it. Give it about twenty-five minutes in the 
bitting harness the first day and about thirty minutes the 
second day — checking it up two holes higher than the 
first day, and so on, from day to day, until you get your 
colt's head elevated so that it can travel without lugging 
on the check, or having its head too high ; as checking 
the young horse too high, when teaching it to trot fast, 
impedes its speed and prevents its extending itself 
when in motion. Two weeks in the bitting harness is 
sufficient, as by that time its mouth becomes soft, so that 
when you put your harness on it, you can rein it im- 
mediately. After you get through with the bitting har- 
ness, put on a breast-plate harness; lead it around 
with it on at first ; then drive it around in it for 
about an hour, in order that it may get used to the slap- 
ping of the harness about its body. Occasionally stop 
it, and v/hile standing, walk all around it; jDat it 
on the neck and head, so that it won't be afraid of any- 
thing, and after a couple of days of this kind of treat- 
ment, it will find out that it is not going to get hurt, 
and you will have no further trouble with it. Now get 
a kind, gentle and well broke horse and hitch your colt 
beside him ; drive it three or four times double, in 
order that it may get accustomed to the rattling of the 
wagon, and it will soon become way- wise. Be sure to 



19 

liitcli the horse you drive with your colt short enough so 
that the horse will do all the pulling , as you do not want the 
colt to do any pulling when taking his first lessons. 
Then take your colt, as soon as you unhitch it from the 
wagon, and hitch it up to your sulky, and drive it 
four or five miles. Let it walk along at first, until it 
learn& what you want it to do. Be sure and select as 
level a piece of road as you can get, when you firs^ begin 
to walk it. 



HOW TO CONSTRUCT YOUR RACE-TRACK— MILE 
OR HALF-MILE. 

It is very easy for the farmer or horse-raiser to lay out, 
upon his own or his neighbor's land, a mile or half-mile 
track, such as the land in his immediate vicinity is best 
adapted to. If you lay out a mile track, have quarter- 
stretches of four hundred and forty yards to each stretch; 
this will give you two straight stretches- the back — stretch 
and the home-stretch, and four hundred and forty yards 
on the turns, which will give you a complete mile of sev- 
enteen hundred and sixty yards. If circumstances do 
not favor a mile track, then lay out a half-mile track in 
proportion to the mile track, and you have it comj)lete. 

By adopting this method you can always train your 
colt or horse to trot, axid learn to your own satisfaction, 
right at home, very nearly if not quite, how fast your 
horses are, and thus save the trouble, annoyance, and 
expense of the public race track. This course will also 
save you the trouble or necessity of hiring a horse sharp 
to drive your horse on a public track to test his s^Dced, 
aj^d save the chances of being deceived by such driver, 
whose only motive would be to get the training of the 
horse, whether speedy or not. Therefore, by all means, 
lay out a track for yourselves, and thus avoid every con- 
ceivable difficult}^ that is encountered upon public tracks. 

The instructions here given are practically correct, as 
you will observe all the theoretical observations are care- 
fully excluded, and if followed, one man can drive five 



20 



or six every day, and that is as many horses as one man 
ought to try to improve in one season. If you are work- 
ing three year old colts, six to seven miles track work is 
enough each morning — the first four miles slow, the last 
two or three miles let them step along, but not fast enough 
to go to a break. This kind of work for the first month 
will be about right, as by that time they become seasoned. 

As to feeding, you will follow the general as well as 
particular instructions heretofore given. Feed accord- 
ing to their constitution. Oats is the best grain feed; 
they are not so heating, and are more strengthening than 
barley. Again I will repeat two quarts of oats and a few 
swallows of water in the morning before going out, three 
quarts at twelve, noon, and three quarts at six, p.m., with 
the usual allowance of hay is sufficient feeding for the 
first month. 



INSTRUCTIONS TO OV7NERS OF HORSES. 

When you first commence to drive your colt, if on you^ 
own track, see how fast it can trot a mile at a nice, nat- 
ural gait. Then in two weeks see whether it improves 
or not, and so on for a couple of months, and in that 
time you can tell whether it will pay to work it or not. 



INSTRUCTIONS IN SHOEING. 

If the colt don't knee up well, shoe it with a pound 
and a quarter shoe forward, and a pound shoe on the 
hind feet. If it bends a good knee, shoe according to 
its style of going. A pound shoe forward, and a three- 
quarter pound shoe behind, as the trainer must be the 
judge of shoeing. If the colt over-reaches, set the hind 
shoes i3retty well back, and let the toe come out over the 
shoe. If the colt should hit its knee forward, shoe it 
heavier on the outside than on the inside. Shoe as 
straight as you can on the inside, having only two nails 
on the inside of the forward shoe. Shoe suug and close 



21 



on the inside of the forward feet. Should j^our horse's 
leaders swell or get sore from work, get strong brine and 
wet the leaders well with it, then wet your bandage well 
and bandage them, but not too tight, and let up working 
your horse for a while, and its legs will soon get all right 
again. 

If your colt dwells on the track, and don't pick up its 
feet quick, get a set of rattlers and buckle them on each 
of its feet, and it will very soon change its motion. If 
a colt gets to hitching in its gait, putting the rattiers on 
gets it out of it. If your horse shies or dodges at 
every object it sees, drive it with an open bridle, so it 
can see all around it, and it will soon quit dodging. 



IF YOUR HORSE IS FAT, AND YOU WANT TO RE- 
DUCE IT, 

Give him a blanket sweat, by taking a blanket and pin- 
ning it around your horse's neck on both sides, and let- 
ting it go back as far as it will over its body; then throw 
another over this, and let it back still further; then put 
on a woolen hood and a belly wrapper; then put on your 
harness, and jog three miles; then let it step along at 
about three-quarter speed three miles more; then go to 
your stable and give your horse a few swallows of water; 
then take your harness off, and strip off all its clothes, 
and scrape off the sweat, as taking off the clothes keeps 
the horse from baking. Immediately after scraping off 
the sweat, throw some dry clothes over it and walk it 
around about five minutes, and bring it in ; take its 
clothes off and scrape it again, if it is sweating freely; 
then take your rubbing cloth and rub it pretty nearly 
dry, and before taking it out again throw on it a cool- 
ing blanket and a hood, and walk it about ten minutes, 
then bring it in and rub it dry. Once a week is often 
enough to give a horse one of these sweats until you have 
got it in order. 



22 



IF ITS NECK IS BIG. 



Put a hood on it and sweat its neck occasionally. 
Mash your horse with bran-mash after you scrape, when 
it is feeding time, as that will cool off its bowels. Pre- 
pare your mash as hereinbefore prescribed. As the 
trainer must be the best judge of his horse, it is needless 
for me to say more than to reassure the reader that if my 
instructions, as herein set forth, are closely studied and 
followed in pi'kctice the result cannot help but be grati- 
fying, ^nd a fast trotter produced as easily as can be by 
any professional trainer, and hundreds of dollars saved 
to the pockets of the horse owner. 

HOW TO MAKE YOUR HORSE COMMAND A GOOD 
PRICE. 

In order to make your horse command a good price or 
the price you ask for it when you bring it to a horse 
market to sell, first of all train your horse at home, and 
be sure and know exactly how fast it can trot a mile 
before you offer it for sale, and the least said about 
your horse's speed or good qualities until the pro- 
posed purchaser has examined it and tried its speed will 
operate in your favor, and materially aid you in ultimate- 
ly getting your price for it. For instance, in bringing 
a green horse to market you are liable to meet a brigade 
of horse sharps that are very apt to make inquiries in 
regard to your stock, about their speed and so on, but 
their speed is what they most care to know, as speed 
commands the price. If your horse has shown you at 
home two minutes and fifty-seven or eight seconds, and 
you are asked what it is worth say it is worth one thou- 
sand dollars. Should you be asked what it is that makes 
it so valuable, let your rejDly be that he can trot. 
Should he ask you how fast, you can tell him three 
minutes. Should you be asked when you can name some 
day when you are sure to have him in fix for the exhibi- 
tion, or on the same day, if you are certain that he is in 
order, he will certainly tell you if the horse can trot 
in three minutes, he willgive you your price. 



23 



You go to the race track as agreed and your horse 
shows the proposed buyer that it can trot in two minutes 
and fifty-six or seven seconds, the purchaser makes up 
his mind at once that he is getting a horse from you that 
you know little or nothing about in point of speed, and 
he gladly buys at your own figures, thinking all the while 
that he can rapidly improve its speed, he being ignorant 
of the fact of its having been trained at home. On the 
contrary, should you tell that he could trot in two-min- 
utes and fifty-seven seconds, and on trial did not accom- 
plish it, he would at once surmise that it had been 
trained, and that its chances for improvement were bad, 
all of which would be against you in selling at high-sjDeed 
figures. But, where your horse shows better time than 
you agreed it should, purchasers are the more eager to 
buy. If you have a horse for sale that can trot in two 
minutes and forty-five seconds, say to the proposed buyer 
that it can go in two minutes and fifty seconds, but be 
sure and ask the price of a two minute and forty-five 
second horse, which is two thousand dollars, and always 
in demand at that. Follow the above instructions and 
you are sure to realize all that your horses are worth. 

A WORD TO BREEDERS OP TROTTING HORSES. 

Br^ders, to get trotting stock, must look to the marOj 
as will as to the stallion. Such as intend to breed for 
trotters should understand that it is as necessary to 
have a good mare as well as a good horse. My ad- 
vice in crossing mares to stallions is as follows: Take 
a good strong boned mare that weighs about twelve hun- 
dred pounds, that has a good, nice trotting gait; breed 
her to a thorough-bred horse, and it is as good a selec- 
tion as the breeder can make. On the other hand, if 
you have well-bred and fine boned mares, cross those to 
trotting sires, and the breeder will be sure to make the 
right selections. It is better to breed a good mare to a 
tolerable good horse, than to breed a good horse to a 
scrub mare. "What I mean by good mare, is one that has 
proved herself a good breeder. The sire, in like man- 



24 



ner, never breed without you know what you are breed- 
ing to. He must be a winner or the producer of some. 
You ought certainly, between them both, to get a valu- 
able animal that, with proper care and attention, and a 
good trotting gait at the age of three years, would easily 
command from fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars 
and upwards. Pursue all the directions herein set forth, 
and you can not fail to produce good trotting horses, 
and that too without the aid of professional trainers. 









